Posts Tagged "enamel"

Today’s the long awaited day for gathering with family and friends for a day of feasting and possibly even football. We would like to wish you and your family a safe and happy Thanksgiving from our caring team at Wellesley Dental Group. Thanksgiving day has been a tradition dating back to 1621 in celebration of the Pilgrims’ first harvest. Most people will be focused on the delicious and flavorful assortment of foods without thinking about the feast certain bacteria within the mouth will be having that can impact teeth. Not all foods are created equally when it comes to your oral health, so here’s what you need to know to have a tooth-friendly holiday:

“My child’s baby teeth are going to fall out eventually anyway, so what’s the point in taking care of them?” This is a common question that many parents face. Baby teeth are necessary for a variety of reasons, including guiding permanent teeth into their proper positions. You also want to make sure that they remain healthy in order to prevent your child from developing a systemic infection, an abscess, or from experiencing pain. As soon as your child’s baby teeth appear, make sure that you are brushing them and scheduling regular dental visits. As they become older, make learning how to brush fun through singing songs, brushing alongside your child, or even using toothbrushes and cool flavors of toothpaste that they pick out themselves.

As sparkling water becomes more popular, there’s one question that comes into play when thinking about your oral health: Is the crisp and refreshing fizz of sparkling water healthy for your teeth? You may be wondering what the issue could be with sparking water, especially since most brands are sugar-free. However, carbonated drinks like sparkling water contain carbon dioxide, which turns into carbonic acid once in the mouth. This lowers the pH level and thus causes the mouth to become a more acidic environment. Some researchers have concerns about whether or not sipping sparkling water could lead to tooth decay due to erosion of the tooth enamel.

Did you know that enamel, the hardest substance in your body, can be weakened over time by eating certain fruits? The FDA lists the 13 most acidic fruits and their pH ranges as:

Lemon Juice (2.00 – 2.60)

Limes (2.00 – 2.80)

Cranberry Juice (2.30 – 2.52)

Blue Plums (2.80 – 3.40)

Grapes (2.90 – 3.82)

Pomegranates (2.93 – 3.20)

Grapefruits (3.00 – 3.75)

Blueberries (3.12 – 3.33)

Pineapples (3.20 – 4.00)

Apples (3.33 – 4.00)

Peaches (3.30 – 4.05)

Mangos (3.40 – 4.80)

Oranges (3.69 – 4.34)

If you are experiencing sensitivity, you may want to cut out acidic fruits listed above from your diet as much as possible. You can also use a special toothpaste to decrease sensitivity. Instead of eating these acidic fruits, you can opt for eating less acidic fruits like cantaloupe (6.13-6.58) which have less of an enamel-weakening effect while providing optimal vitamin C levels. Honeydew melons, bananas, and watermelon are also great options. Protecting your enamel from acidic fruits will also lessen your risk of cavities, and help you achieve the perfect smile!

Feel free to contact Drs. Ali & Ali and their newest addition to the team, Dr. Zarah Ali, if you have any thoughts or concerns. Your little ones and teens are welcome to visit our pediatric dentist Dr. Van. Dr. Emad is happy to help with your orthodontic needs. For wisdom teeth extractions or any other periodontal or oral surgery needs, Dr. Ghazi would be more than willing to help.

It’s hard to resist dipping french fries in ketchup, adding a extra dressing on salad, or smothering steak in steak sauce. After all, all we crave is a little added taste for our food. Ketchup is basically crushed tomatoes, right? Actually, one bottle of ketchup contains approximately 33 teaspoons of sugar!

One of the main reasons why sauce is unhealthy and bad for your teeth is due to the added sugars and acidity of the sauces. The acid weakens your enamel, while the added sugars feed bacteria in your mouth. Both of these elements ultimately result in an increased prevalence of cavities. In addition to the negative effects on your oral health, the added calories in sauce on your food is also not ideal for maintaining a healthy diet.

Sometimes it is hard to interpret how much sugar is in a sauce (or any other food at that) by just reading the grams off of the nutritional label. There are tools you can use on your smartphone or computer that let you see how many tablespoons of sugar are in foods.

TIPS:

-Always use sauce in your foods in moderation.

-Brush your teeth after meals, or at least after you’ve had a heavy meal.

-Read nutritional labels on food packaging and watch out for how many grams of sugar are in it.

Feel free to contact Drs. Ali & Ali and their newest addition to the team, Dr. Zarah Ali, if you have any thoughts or concerns. Your little ones and teens are welcome to visit our pediatric dentist Dr. Van. Dr. Emad is happy to help with your orthodontic needs. For wisdom teeth extractions or any other periodontal or oral surgery needs, Dr. Ghazi would be more than willing to help.

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About Us

Dr. Ejaz and Dr. Femina Ali have a strong desire to provide the very best that dentistry has to offer, and have a combined 40 years of clinical experience to meet that commitment! Graduates of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Drs. Ali and Ali have become recognized leaders in cosmetic, implant, and restorative dentistry. In order to remain on the leading edge of dental technologies and techniques, their personal commitment includes hundreds of hours each year in advanced dental training. Drs. Ali and Ali consistently stay up to date on the most current techniques including procedures in restorative, TMJ, sedation, implant and laser dentistry.